Playa Sámara
Nadia and Virginie had to go, but I was staying on to go to language school to improve my Spanish. My first week in school was spent on the beach in a town named Sámara, on the Pacific coast of the Nicoya Peninsula.
Conditions were brutal. This is our classroom, under the trees on the grounds of a hotel. There was coffee a few steps away under a "rancho," what the Ticos call a palapa, and when it got too hot, we could jump in the pool for a few minutes during a break. Here we see Bill, our teacher Victor, and myself. photo: Kathy Eiler
Kathy was the other member of our class. Kathy never quite got the hang of being a true liberal, in spite of the putative broadening effects of travel. What can I say? I tried. We all loved her, anyway.
What's not to love? Kathy was smart, funny, and a good communicator, in both Spanish and English. If all "liberals" and "conservatives" communicated the way we did, the world would be a different place. photo: Bill Lennox
Does it seem like we were always all over each other? I really loved this whole group.
This only looks like a stupid picture of a sign. It's really a stupid picture of an iguana on the sidewalk beside the sign. Iguanas! Running around loose all over the country! Such is Samara. Unfortunately, this guy's in the shadow and is hard to see.
Here's another one, treading amongst the coconuts, also partly in shadow. These guys are sly. Or maybe just hot.
At a beach bar called El Lagarto, "The Crocodile," for graduation ceremonies. A solemn occasion, as you can see. This is an amazing school. They seem to have the notion that if you're having fun, you'll learn more. Victor was a great teacher, and in the space of a week became a good friend of mine. Like all the professors in the school, he has a college degree and has addditional training in teaching Spanish as a second language. He had a fluid style that kept us all engaged, never weary, never subject to drudgery, and yet we learned an amazing amount of vocabulary and grammar and rapidly improved our speaking and comprehension. Who knew? photo: some random celebrant at the graduation party.
Sylvia and Abril are also teachers at the school, but I never had them in my class. Except for dance class at Lagarto's.
As great as the school was, it was only half the story in Sámara. The other half is the lovely family I stayed with there. Alicia has a house in the nearby village of Cantaranas, which means "Frogsong," and has 5 children. Here she is pictured with her youngest son Ivan. Alicia is kind, a great cook, and has a heart as big as the ocean. She had a quiet, calm way about her. We talked about religion, music, politics and society, sitting around her outdoor kitchen table under a big mango tree.
This is Alicia's house in Cantaranas. It was small but comfortable.
This is my room at Alicia's house. It's very small, but comfortable. I didn't spend much time there, anyway. Alicia and her family were entertaining and cordial -- when I was at home, I usually hung out with them on the back porch, chatting.
Unfortunately, Alicia's daughter Ilsen, on the right, and her friend from the university Hannia were only there the first two days of my stay. Ilsen is learning guitar, and we spent an enjoyable evening singing and playing for each other. She had to go back to the university in Nicoya on Monday, but called later on in the week to say goodbye before I left. Her grace and charm make her one of the nicest people I've met in a long time.
And one of the most beautiful. "It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances." --Oscar Wilde
This is the road down which I walked to school everyday.
This is the church beside the road down which I walked every day.
This is one of the howler monkeys, "congos," that was hanging upside down eating a mango in the mango trees beside the road down which I walked everyday. We heard them talking every night.
Mango trees! Right beside the road, with mangoes free for the taking! Filled with monkeys! I was feeling like I was a long way from Arizona.
I hated to say goodbye to everyone in Sámara when it was time to leave. Thank you, Alicia, Ivan, Marco, Ilsen, Gabriela, Victor, Bill, Kathy, Jorge, Laura, and everyone else that made it such a good time.
Check out the next page which has pictures of Heredia.
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